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The SOLAS Container Weight Verification Requirement

January 2015

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has amended the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) to require, as a condition for loading a packed container onto a ship for export, that the container has a verified weight. The shipper is responsible for the verification of the packed container’s weight. This requirement will become legally effective on July 1, 2016. After that date, it would be a violation of SOLAS to load a packed container onto a vessel if the vessel operator and marine terminal operator do not have a verified container weight.

The SOLAS amendments provide that there are two methods shippers may use to determine the container weight once the container packing process has taken place. This requirement will apply globally. Shippers, freight forwarders, vessel operators, and terminal operators will all need to establish policies and procedures to ensure the implementation of this regulatory change.

Because there have been questions about what the specific nature of the SOLAS changes are, the World Shipping Council provides the following basic synopsis of the SOLAS requirement.

Basic Principles Under the SOLAS Requirement

1. Before a packed container can be loaded onto a ship, its weight must be determined through weighing.1 It is a violation of SOLAS to load a packed container aboard a vessel

1 In the absence of a shipper providing a verified gross mass of a packed container, that container “shall

not be loaded on to the ship”. SOLAS Chapter VI, Regulation 2, paragraph 6. The IMO Guidelines, Section 6, also state: “A container packed with packages and cargo items should not be loaded onto a ship to which the SOLAS regulations apply unless the master or his representative and the terminal representative have obtained, in advance of vessel loading, the verified actual gross mass of the container.”

Packed containers for which a verified weight was provided prior to loading in a preceding load port may be loaded in transshipment ports without having to have their weights re-verified if the port terminal in the transshipment port has been advised of this by the operator of the arriving vessel.

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to which SOLAS applies without a proper weight verification. There is no exception to this requirement.

2. Under the SOLAS amendments, there are two permissible methods for weighing: Method 1, which requires weighing the container after it has been packed, or Method 2,2 which requires weighing all the cargo and contents of the container and adding those weights to the container’s tare weight as indicated on the door end of the container.

3. Estimating weight is not permitted. The shipper (or by arrangement of the shipper, a third party) has a responsibility to weigh the packed container or to weigh its contents. Under either Method, the weighing equipment used must meet national certification and calibration requirements. Further, the party packing the container cannot use the weight somebody else has provided, except in one specific set of defined circumstances.3

4. A carrier may rely on a shipper’s signed weight verification to be accurate. The carrier does not need to be a “verifier” of the shipper’s weight verification. Nor do the SOLAS amendments require a carrier to verify that a shipper providing a verified weight according to Method 2 has used a method which has been certified and approved by the competent authority of the jurisdiction in which the packing and sealing of the container was completed. However, it is important to note that, for the shipper’s weight verification to be compliant with the SOLAS requirement, it must be “signed”, meaning a specific person representing the shipper is named and identified as having verified the accuracy of the weight calculation on behalf of the shipper.4

2 The IMO Guidelines state that Method 2 “would be inappropriate and impractical” for “certain types of cargo items (e.g., scrap metal, unbagged grain and other cargo in bulk)” that “do not easily lend themselves to individual weighing of the items to be packed in the container.” IMO Guidelines, paragraph 7.2.2.

3 The one exception is as follows: “Individual, original sealed packages that have the accurate mass of the packages and cargo items (including any other material such as packing material and refrigerants inside the packages) clearly and permanently marked on their surfaces, do not need to be weighed again when they are packed into the container.” IMO Guidelines, paragraph 7.2.1. This does not permit estimating the cargo weight, but permits using accurate weights that have been clearly and permanently marked on individual, original sealed packages (e.g., flat screen TVs that have their weight (e.g. X kg.) marked by the manufacturer on the box containing the TV).

There is no exception for co-loaded containers. The IMO Guidelines are clear that the shipper named on the ocean carrier bill of lading is the party responsible for providing the container’s verified gross mass. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 7.3. Thus, the “master” forwarder named on the ocean carrier’s bill of lading is responsible for the accurate cargo weight verification of all the cargo from all the co-loading forwarders using the container, and may not simply pass on cargo weights that may have been declared by those other forwarders. 4 “The shipping document shall be: .1 signed by a person duly authorized by the shipper; and .2 submitted to the master or his representative …”. SOLAS Chapter VI, Regulation 2, paragraph 1. “This

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5. The lack of a signed shipper weight verification can be remedied by weighing the packed container at the port. If the marine terminal does not have equipment to weigh the container and provide a verified weight, alternative means must be found to obtain a verified container weight; otherwise, the packed container may not be loaded on to the ship.5

6. When a marine terminal receives a packed export container that does not have a signed shipper weight verification, there will need to be processes in place at the terminal for obtaining the weight of such containers and using such weights in the vessel stow plan. Terminals and carriers will need to agree on how these situations will be handled.

7. If a packed container is weighed at the load port, that weight is to be used for vessel stow planning.6

8. Vessel stow plans should use verified weights for all packed containers loaded on

board.

document can be part of the shipping instructions to the shipping company or a separate communication (e.g., a declaration including a weight certificate produced by a weigh station).” IMO Guidelines, paragraph 3.13. “[T]he document should clearly highlight that the gross mass provided is the “verified gross mass” as defined in paragraph 3.” IMO Guidelines, paragraph 8. “Irrespective of its form, the document declaring the verified gross mass of the packed container should be signed by a person duly authorized by the shipper. The signature may be an electronic signature or may be replaced by the name in capitals of the person authorized to sign it.” IMO Guidelines, paragraph 9. 5 “If the shipping document, with regard to a packed container, does not provide the verified gross mass and the master or his representative and the terminal representative have not obtained the verified gross mass of the packed container, it shall not be loaded on to the ship.” Regulation 2, paragraph 1. “Notwithstanding that a shipper is responsible for obtaining and documenting the verified gross mass of a packed container, situations may occur where a packed container is delivered to a port terminal facility without the shipper having provided the required verified gross mass of the container. Such a container should not be loaded onto the ship until its gross mass has been obtained. In order to allow the efficient onward movement of such containers, the master or his representative and the terminal representative may obtain the verified gross mass of the packed container on behalf of the shipper. This may be done by weighing the packed container in the terminal or elsewhere. The verified gross mass so obtained should be used in the preparation of the ship loading plan. Whether and how to do this should be agreed between the commercial parties, including the apportionment of costs involved.” IMO Guidelines, paragraph 19. 6 “Any discrepancy between a packed container’s gross mass declared prior to the verification of its gross mass and its verified gross mass should be resolved by use of the verified gross mass.” IMO Guidelines, paragraph 13. “Any discrepancy between a verified gross mass of a packed container obtained prior to the container's delivery to the port terminal facility and a verified gross mass of that container obtained by that port facility's weighing of the container should be resolved by use of the latter verified gross mass obtained by the port terminal facility.” IMO Guidelines, paragraph 14.

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Guidelines for Improving Safety and Implementing the SOLAS

Container Weight Verification Requirements

July 1, 2015

Summary

In November 2014, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted mandatory

amendments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Chapter VI,

Part A, Regulation 2 - Cargo information. The SOLAS convention is applicable global law. The

SOLAS amendments become effective on 1 July 2016 for packed containers received for

transportation (gate-in or off-rail). They place a requirement on the shipper of a packed

container, regardless of who packed the container, to verify and provide the container’s gross

verified weight to the ocean carrier and port terminal representative prior to it being loaded

onto a ship. A verified container weight is a condition for loading a packed container aboard

a vessel for export. The vessel operator and the terminal operator are required to use verified

container weights in vessel stowage plans and are prohibited from loading a packed container

aboard a vessel for export if the container does not have a verified container weight.

This document provides an outline of what the implementation of the SOLAS amendments

requires of the various commercial parties.

Contents

1. Introduction Page 2 2. Scope Page 2 3. Main Principles Page 3 4. Methods for obtaining the verified gross weight of a packed container Page 4 5. Documentation Page 7 6. Information flow: shipper, carrier, and terminal interfaces Page 7 7. Containers exceeding their maximum gross mass Page 9 8. Definitions Page 9 9. Supplemental reference and source material Page 11

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1. Introduction

1.1 In order to address safety problems at sea and on shore arising from container shipments

that have incorrect weight declarations, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted

amendments to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention, Chapter VI Regulation 2 – Cargo

information regarding a mandatory container gross weight verification, together with

associated guidelines published as MSC.1/Circ. 1475 (hereinafter referred to as the IMO

Guidelines).1

1.2 The SOLAS amendments were adopted in November 2014 and will enter in to force on

1 July 2016. The intervening period should be considered to be the transition or planning

period. All regulated parties need to be prepared to implement and abide by the container

weight verification requirements by 1 July 2016. This period should also allow time for

regulated parties to prepare for required process and documentation changes and to test

information transmission enhancements in advance of the effective date.

1.3 The effect of these requirements on containerized supply chains is that the verification

of the gross weight of a packed export container will be required before the container is

loaded aboard a ship. To ensure compliance with the SOLAS amendments, participants within

the supply chain (especially shippers, carriers, and terminal operators) will need to establish

and implement processes to ensure that the verified container weights are provided to the

necessary parties in a timely fashion and are used by the terminal operator and vessel

operator in the vessel’s container stowage plan.

1.4 These Guidelines have been drafted by the World Shipping Council, in consultation

with its member companies, as advice on implementing the SOLAS amendments. These

Guidelines identify elements both of the regulatory requirements and of a non-regulatory

nature that companies with commercial roles and activities within the international

containerized transport supply chain will need to consider.

2. Scope

2.1 Unless specified in paragraph 2.2, the SOLAS requirements to verify the gross weight of

a packed export container apply to all packed containers to which the IMO’s Convention for

Safe Containers (CSC) applies and which are to be loaded onto any ship in international

maritime traffic.

2.2 The provisions of SOLAS Chapter VI, Part A, Regulation 2 do not apply to:

1 The text of both the SOLAS amendments and the IMO Guidelines Regarding the Verified Gross Mass

of Container Carrying Cargo may be accessed via web links found in Section 10 below, page 10. The terms “gross mass” and “gross weight” are interchangeable.

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(i) A packed container on a chassis or trailer to be driven on a ro-ro ship which is engaged

on short international voyages;2

(ii) Cargo items tendered by a shipper to the master for packing into a container already

on board the ship; or

(iii) "Offshore containers" to which the CSC, according to the IMO Guidelines for the

approval of offshore containers handled in open seas (MSC/Circ.860) and the IMO

Revised recommendations on harmonized interpretation and implementation of the

International Convention for Safe Containers, 1972, as amended

(CSC.1/Circ.138/Rev.1), does not apply.

2.3 No provision or agreement in a contract of sale, a transportation contract, or a

stevedoring contract may override or conflict with the obligation to abide by the SOLAS

requirements.

3. Main Principles

3.1 The purpose of the SOLAS amendments is to obtain an accurate gross weight of packed

containers that are moved through the supply chain prior to loading aboard the ship.

3.2 The responsibility for obtaining and documenting the verified gross weight of a packed

container lies with the shipper. SOLAS Chapter VI, Regulation 2; IMO Guidelines, paragraph

4.1.

3.3 Verified container weights are to be used by the terminal operator and the vessel

operator in ship stowage planning.

3.4 A container packed with packages and cargo items shall not be loaded onto a ship to

which the SOLAS amendments apply unless the vessel master or his representative and the

terminal representative have obtained, in advance of vessel loading, the verified gross weight

of the container. SOLAS Chapter VI, Regulation 2, paragraph 6; IMO Guidelines, paragraph

4.2. Availability to both the terminal representative and to the master or his representative of

the verified gross mass of a packed container sufficiently in advance to be used in the ship

stowage plan is a prerequisite for the container to be loaded onto a ship to which the SOLAS

regulations apply. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 14.1

3.5 If a packed container is received at a port facility for export without a verified gross

weight, it shall not be loaded on a vessel until a verified gross weight is obtained. The

measures that may be taken to obtain such a verified weight for such a container are for the

commercial parties to determine. Any costs incurred by the vessel operator or terminal

2 SOLAS regulation III/2 defines "short international voyage" as an international voyage in the course of which a ship is not more than 200 miles from a port or place in which the passengers and crew could be placed in safety, and which does not exceed 600 miles in length between the last port of call in the country in which the voyage begins and the final port of destination.

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operator for obtaining a verified gross weight if a shipper has failed to provide one in a timely

manner and any recovery of those costs are also commercial matters for the parties to

determine. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 13.1.

3.6 The gross weight of a packed inbound container being delivered by a SOLAS vessel to a

port facility (i.e., an import or transhipped container) will be the verified container weight

used by the vessel operator and port facility at the vessel’s loading port. A port facility and a

vessel operator do not need to re-weigh a packed inbound container that is to be

transshipped if that container has been delivered by a SOLAS vessel with a verified weight

from the previous leg of the voyage. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 8.1.2.

4. Methods for obtaining the verified gross mass of a packed container

4.1 The SOLAS regulations prescribe two methods by which the shipper may obtain the verified gross mass of a packed container.

4.1.1 Method No. 1:

Upon the conclusion of packing and sealing a container and using calibrated and

certified equipment, the shipper may weigh, or have arranged that a third party weigh,

the packed container. SOLAS Regulation, paragraph 4.1; IMO Guidelines, paragraph

5.1.1. The scale, weighbridge, lifting equipment or other devices used to verify the

gross mass of the container must meet the applicable accuracy standards and

requirements of the State in which the equipment is being used. IMO Guidelines,

paragraph 7.1.

Method No. 1 is appropriate to use for any packed container and any kind of goods.

4.1.2 Method No. 2:

The shipper (or, by arrangement of the shipper, a third party) may weigh all packages

and cargo items, including the mass of pallets, dunnage and other packing and securing

material to be packed in the container, and add the tare mass of the container to the

sum of the single masses of the container’s contents. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 5.1.2.

The weighing equipment used to weigh the contents of the container must meet the

applicable accuracy standards and requirements of the State in which the equipment is

being used. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 7.1.

The tare mass of the particular container is visible on the exterior of the container and

should be used. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 12.1.

Estimating the weight of a container’s contents is not permitted.

The party packing the container cannot use the weight somebody else has provided,

except in one specific set of defined circumstances where the cargo has been

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previously weighed and that weight is clearly and permanently marked on the surface

of the goods.3

Method No. 2 is “inappropriate and impractical” for “certain types of cargo items (e.g.,

scrap metal, unbagged grain and other cargo in bulk)” that “do not easily lend

themselves to individual weighing of the items to be packed in the container.” IMO

Guidelines, paragraph 5.1.2.2. Method No. 2 is also inappropriate for “flexitanks”.

For such cargoes, Method No. 1 must be used.

The method used for weighing the container's contents under Method No. 2 is subject

to certification and approval as determined by the competent authority of the State in

which the packing and sealing of the container was completed. IMO Guidelines,

paragraph 5.1.2.3. Shippers are responsible for complying with any certification and

approval requirements that may be established by the State in which the container

packing is done, or, in a case where a container is packed in multiple places, any

certification and approval requirements that may be established by the State where

the last contents were packed into the container.

4.2 Regardless of whether Method No. 1 or Method No. 2 is used to obtain the verified

weight of the container --

The SOLAS amendments and the IMO Guidelines are clear that the shipper named on

the ocean carrier’s bill of lading is the party responsible for providing the packed

container’s verified gross mass. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 5.1.3. Thus, for example, if

a freight forwarder/NVOCC is co-loading the cargo shipments of other freight

forwarders in a container, the “master” forwarder named on the ocean carrier’s bill of

lading is the party responsible for the accurate cargo weight verification of all the

cargo and all packing or securing material from all the co-loading forwarders using the

container.

The carrier and terminal operator may rely on a shipper’s signed container weight

verification to be accurate. The carrier and the terminal operator are not responsible

3 The exception is as follows: “Individual, original sealed packages that have the accurate mass of the packages and cargo items (including any other material such as packing material and refrigerants inside the packages) clearly and permanently marked on their surfaces, do not need to be weighed again when they are packed into the container.” IMO Guidelines, paragraph 5.1.2.1 (underlining added). This does not permit estimating the cargo weight, but permits using accurate weights that have been previously derived from weighing the product and that are clearly and permanently marked on individual, original sealed packages. For example, a shipper of identical television sets whose individual cartons are marked by the manufacturer with the shipping weight could calculate the shipment’s weight by multiplying the number of television sets in the container by the weight of an individual set, and then adding that weight to the combined calculated weight of the packaging, pallets, packing and bracing material used and the container’s tare weight. This approach has four required elements. It only applies to: 1) original, sealed packages, 2) that have been previously weighed, 3) with the accurate mass clearly and permanently marked on their surfaces, and, 4) such weights being added to the calculated weight of all packing, securing and other material that may have been used in the packing of the container.

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for verifying the shipper’s weight verification. Nor do the SOLAS amendments or IMO

Guidelines require a carrier or terminal operator to verify that a shipper providing a

verified weight according to Method 2 has used a method which has been certified and

approved by the competent authority of the jurisdiction in which the packing and

sealing of the container was completed. However, for the shipper’s weight verification

to be compliant with the SOLAS requirements, it must be “signed”, meaning a specific

person representing the shipper must be named and identified as having verified the

accuracy of the weight calculation on behalf of the shipper.4

Weights obtained by weighing the entire packed container under Method 1 or by

weighing the contents of the container and adding those weights to the container tare

weight under Method 2 are to be as accurate as the scales or weighing devices used,

which must meet the applicable accuracy standards and requirements of the State in

which the equipment is being used. Some cargo products may incur normal, minor

changes in weight from the time of packing until delivery (e.g., due to evaporation,

humidity changes, ice melt from fresh food products packed in ice, etc.) and some

containers’ tare weight may change over time and vary somewhat from the tare

weight painted on the container; however, these variations should not present safety

concerns.

The party or parties packing the container should follow the provisions of the

IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTU Code) in

relation to load distribution and safe packing of the container. (See, page 11 for a link

to the CTU Code and CTU Code Informative Materials.)

4.3 A shipper’s participation or approval under a Customs authority’s Authorized Economic

Operator (AEO) or similar program does not modify or exempt the shipper from required

compliance with the SOLAS requirements. Such status might be a relevant factor in a State’s

certification and approval requirements for Method No. 2 shippers. Shippers should be aware

of any such applicable national requirements.

4.4 If a carrier or terminal operator has reason to believe that the verified weight of the

container provided by the shipper is significantly in error, they may take such steps as may be

appropriate in the interest of safety to determine what the accurate weight is. The terms of

such arrangements and the recovery of the costs involved in any steps for obtaining an

accurate weight are commercial matters for the parties to address.

4 “The shipping document shall be: .1 signed by a person duly authorized by the shipper; and .2 submitted to the master or his representative ….” SOLAS Chapter VI, Regulation 2, paragraph 5. “This document can be part of the shipping instructions to the shipping company or a separate communication (e.g., a declaration including a weight certificate produced by a weigh station).” IMO Guidelines, paragraph 2.1.13. “[T]he document should clearly highlight that the gross mass provided is the “verified gross mass” as defined in paragraph 2.1.” IMO Guidelines, paragraph 6.1. “Irrespective of its form, the document declaring the verified gross mass of the packed container should be signed by a person duly authorized by the shipper. The signature may be an electronic signature or may be replaced by the name in capitals of the person authorized to sign it.” IMO Guidelines, paragraph6.2.

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5. Documentation

5.1 The SOLAS regulations require the shipper to verify the gross mass of the packed

container using Method No. 1 or Method No. 2 and to communicate the verified gross mass in

a shipping document. This document can be part of the shipping instructions to the shipping

company or a separate communication (e.g., a declaration including a weight certificate

produced by a weigh station using calibrated and certified equipment on the route between

the shipper's origin and the port terminal). In either case, the document should clearly

highlight that the gross mass provided is the "verified gross mass". The verified weight should

be expressed in kilograms or pounds, depending on which measure is used in that jurisdiction.

Electronic methods of transmission such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) or Electronic

Data Processing (EDP) may be used. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 6.3.

5.2 Irrespective of its form, the document declaring the verified gross mass of the packed

container must be signed by a person duly authorised by the shipper. The signature may be

an electronic signature or may be replaced by the name in capitals of the person authorised to

sign it. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 6.2.

5.3 Any discrepancy between a packed container's gross mass provided to a carrier by a

shipper prior to the container’s weight verification and its verified gross mass should be

resolved by use of the verified gross mass. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 9.1. If a port terminal

addresses an uncertainty about the gross mass of a packed container by weighing the

container, the weight obtained by the port facility should be used for vessel stowage planning.

IMO Guidelines, paragraph 9.2 and 13.1.

5.4 The shipper’s container weight verification shall be made available to the terminal

operator and to the master and to appropriate government officials upon request.

6. Information flow: Shipper, carrier and terminal interfaces

6.1 The SOLAS amendments are clear in assigning shippers’, carriers’ and terminal

operators’ responsibilities. The shipper is responsible for providing an accurate “verified gross

mass” for each packed container it tenders to the carrier or its terminal representative,

regardless of who actually packs the container. The vessel operator and the terminal operator

are responsible for using verified gross weights in vessel stow planning and must not load a

packed container aboard a vessel for export without a verified gross weight. These are

regulatory obligations.

6.2 In order to implement the SOLAS regulatory obligations and to ensure the efficient and

smooth flow of commerce, the parties in the supply chain will need to make arrangements for

the timely transmission and exchange of verified container weight information. These are

commercial and operational requirements, not regulatory requirements.

6.3 SOLAS requires that the container weight verification information be submitted

sufficiently in advance of vessel loading to be used in the preparation of the ship stowage

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plan. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 6.3.2. It is essential that the container’s verified gross

weight be obtained by the vessel operator and the terminal operator before a packed export

container is physically loaded on to a ship.

6.4 Carriers will provide shippers with “cut-off times” within which the carrier must

receive the required container weight verification from the shipper for ship stowage planning.

These cut-off times may vary by carrier, may vary depending on the operational procedures or

requirements of different terminal operators, and may vary from port to port. Shippers

should learn of such documentation cut-off times from the carrier with whom they are doing

business.

6.5 Where container weight verification is performed outside a container terminal, carriers

shall transmit shippers’ container weight verifications to the terminal operator, per agreed

formats and standards, in a timely manner so that the terminal operator has this information

upon the arrival of the packed container at the terminal.

6.6 Terminal operators will need to transmit to the carrier, per agreed formats and

standards, in a timely manner any shipper provided container weight verification that the

shipper provides to the terminal upon delivery of the packed container to the terminal

operator, as well as weight verifications that occur when a terminal operator weighs a packed

container on behalf of the shipper. See, Section 6.7 below.

6.7 Terminal operators and carriers will need to jointly decide in advance how they intend

to handle packed containers that are received by a terminal operator for export when: a) the

carrier has not informed the terminal operator of the container’s verified weight, or b) when

the shipper has not provided the carrier or terminal operator with the packed container’s

verified container weight.

6.8 If a terminal operator makes arrangements for determining the verified gross mass of a

packed container that is delivered to the port by a shipper without a verified gross mass, the

cost for such service will have to be borne according to the terms of the commercial

arrangements among the affected parties, with the recognition that the SOLAS amendments

place the obligation on the shipper to provide the verified weight in the first instance. A

shipper should recognize that, if it fails to provide a verified container weight as called for by

the SOLAS amendments and such failure requires a terminal operator to use Method No. 1 to

obtain a verified container weight, there will be a cost for such services that the affected

parties will need to address.

6.9 With respect to vessel sharing arrangements (VSAs) where more than one ocean

carrier is using the vessel to transport goods, the vessel operator is responsible for the vessel

stowage and for the vessel’s compliance with SOLAS requirements. Each VSA partner is

responsible for timely transmission of verified container weights for all packed containers to

be loaded to the terminal operator and to the vessel operator.

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6.10 The final vessel stow plan should include a check mark or notation that allows the

master to see that each packed container in the stow plan has a verified weight, and the stow

plan shall include the verified weights for every packed container aboard.5

7. Containers exceeding their maximum gross mass

SOLAS regulation VI/5 requires that a container not be packed to more than the maximum

gross mass indicated on the Safety Approval Plate under the IMO’s Convention for Safe

Containers (CSC), as amended. A container with a gross mass exceeding its maximum

permitted gross mass may not be loaded onto a ship.

In addition to not packing a container beyond its maximum gross mass, the party packing

a container should be aware of and abide by cargo weight distribution and cargo securing

requirements for the particular type(-s) of cargo packed into the container. See, CTU Code

referred to in Section 9 below.

8. Definitions

For the purpose of these Guidelines: Calibrated and certified equipment: means a scale, weighbridge, lifting equipment or any

other device, capable of determining the actual gross mass of a packed container or of packages and cargo items, pallets, dunnage and other packing and securing material, that

meets the accuracy standards and requirements of the State in which the equipment is being

used. Cargo items: has the same general meaning as the term "cargo" in the International

Convention for Safe Containers, 1972, as amended (hereinafter referred to as "the CSC"), and means any goods, wares, merchandise, liquids, gases, solids and articles of every kind

whatsoever carried in containers pursuant to a contract of carriage. However, ship's

equipment and ship's supplies, including ship's spare parts and stores, carried in containers are not regarded as cargo.

Carrier: The party who, in a contract of carriage, undertakes to perform or to procure the performance of carriage by sea.

Container: has the same meaning as the term "container" in the CSC and means an article of

transport equipment:

(a) of a permanent character and accordingly strong enough to be suitable for repeated use;

(b) specially designed to facilitate the transport of goods, by one or more modes of

transport, without intermediate reloading;

5 There may be a limited period of time after July 1, 2016 when electronic messaging software (EDI) changes to

implement this capability will be in transition.

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(c) designed to be secured and/or readily handled, having corner fittings for these

purposes; and (d) of a size such that the area enclosed by the four outer bottom corners is either:

(i) at least 14 m2 (150 sq. ft.); or (ii) at least 7 m2 (75 sq. ft.) if it is fitted with top corner fittings.

Contract of carriage: means a contract in which a shipping company, against the payment of freight, undertakes to carry goods from one place to another. The contract may take the form

of, or be evidenced by a document such as sea waybill, a bill of lading, or multi-modal transport document.

Gross weight or gross mass: means the combined weight of a container's tare weight and the weights of all packages and cargo items, including pallets, dunnage and other packing material

and securing materials packed into the container (see also "Verified gross mass"). Package: means one or more cargo items that are tied together, packed, wrapped, boxed or

parcelled for transportation. Examples of packages include, but are not limited to, parcels,

boxes, packets and cartons. Packed container: means a container, as previously defined, loaded ("stuffed" or "filled") with

liquids, gases, solids, packages and cargo items, including pallets, dunnage, and other packing material and securing materials. Packing material: means any material used or for use with packages and cargo items to prevent damage, including, but not limited to, crates, packing blocks, drums, cases, boxes,

barrels, and skids. Excluded from the definition is any material within individual sealed

packages to protect the cargo item(s) inside the package. Securing material: means all dunnage, lashing and other equipment used to block, brace, and

secure packed cargo items in a container. Ship: means any vessel to which SOLAS chapter VI applies. Excluded from this definition are

roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) ships engaged on short international voyages where the containers are

carried on a chassis or trailer and are loaded and unloaded by being driven on and off the ship.

Shipper: means a legal entity or person named on the bill of lading or sea waybill or equivalent multimodal transport document (e.g., a "through" bill of lading) as shipper and/or

who (or in whose name or on whose behalf) a contract of carriage has been concluded with a

shipping company. The shipper may also be known as the sender. Shipping document: means a document used by the shipper to communicate the verified

gross weight of the packed container. This document can be part of the shipping instructions to the shipping company or a separate communication (e.g., a declaration including a weight

certificate produced by a weigh station). Tare weight: means the weight of an empty container that does not contain any packages,

cargo items, pallets, dunnage, or any other packing material or securing material.

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Terminal representative: means a person acting on behalf of a legal entity or person engaged

in the business of providing wharfage, dock, stowage, warehouse, or other cargo handling.

Verified gross mass: means the total gross weight of a packed container as obtained by one of

the methods described in Section 4 of these Guidelines.

9. Supplemental reference and source material

The full text of the SOLAS regulations and the IMO Guidelines Regarding the Verified Gross Mass of Container Carrying Cargo (MSC.1/Circ.1474, 9 June 2014) can be found at: http://www.worldshipping.org/industry-issues/safety/cargo-weight

The IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTU Code) and the CTU Code Informative Materials can be found at: http://www.worldshipping.org/industry-issues/safety/containers

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